


the matchmaker's list

by warcrimes



Series: warcrimes' shitty mcyt fanfics that they will regret writing later in life [2]
Category: Dream Team - Fandom, Dreamwastaken, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, dreamnotfound - Fandom
Genre: "language!!", Boys In Love, DNF, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Highschool AU, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I thought of this in the shower, Idiots in Love, Inner Dialogue, LGBTQ Relationship, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Matchmakers, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, RPF, Soulmate AU, dream & george's pov's, dream has a little crush wink wonk ;), dream's being flirty, dreamnotfound, george has a very revealing dream, george is completely oblivious (as you would expect), george is dumb and confused, george slept in late (as per usual), i don't know how to tag lol, idk if this counts as a highschool au but they're in highschool so i'm tagging it, no beta we die like men, two dumbasses fall in love n shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29330889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warcrimes/pseuds/warcrimes
Summary: Dream's been waiting for this day for years. Ever since he took the matchmaking test the thought of who would be on his list has eaten away at him. He never expected his best friend to be at the top.inspired by the matchmaking system in the bookseries "keeper of the lost cities" by shannon messenger
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: warcrimes' shitty mcyt fanfics that they will regret writing later in life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154264
Comments: 5
Kudos: 62





	1. It's Here-Dream's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream wakes up on Valentine's Day, but this one is different than the rest.
> 
> edited wednesday, february 17th: just re-wording for better flow and minor changes, nothing you need to re-read if you've already read this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! this is kinda my first serious fic so it may not be great but hey!! who cares!! its dnf!!
> 
> jk i hope you think its at least okay <3 :D
> 
> please enjoy :)

Dream is abruptly woken up by high pitched, monotonous beeps, which has his eyes open with flashes of excitement, realization, and dread.

_Today's the day._

He eagerly dismisses the alarm and opens his phone to check his calendar, making sure he's not misremembering the date.

_February 14th-Valentine's Day_

He was right. Today's Valentine's Day, but is also the day the matchmakers release the lists. Dream knows the tradition well, he's seen it since he was little. Jittery 18-year-olds rushing to their mailboxes, keys dropping out of hands in excitement of the day ahead. They eagerly open their mailboxes to see the result of the test they took exactly a year ago. To most people, this is the best day of their life.

Dream, on the other hand, really just hopes his girlfriend isn't on his list.

Him and Luna have been together for two and a half years, and Dream knew when he got into it that he'd change a lot, although he wasn't expecting that change to be his sexuality. He, as of 6 months ago, realized he was gay after thinking he was bisexual for over a year. These past six months have been very stressful for Dream, trying to figure out a good time to tell her or seeing if there's a good time to mention it in casual conversation. Though he hasn't figured out a good time yet, he thinks today he'll have to. He's read that the Matchmakers always seem to know your sexuality, even if you might not yourself.

_Hopefully that's true_ , Dream worries to himself. He's been obsessed with digging up information about the Matchmakers ever since he took the test last Valentine's. Especially after he started having feelings for someone else close to him.

 _I should probably get the package soon_ , he thinks to himself, _My friends and family are gonna want to know who's on my list_.

He grabs a pair of black joggers off of his messy, strewn about bed and practically jumps into them. He rumages through his laundry hamper and throws on his favorite olive green hoodie over his bare chest. Grabbing his keys from where they're laying on his desk and shoving them into his pant pockets, he jogs out of the front door of his parents' house. He goes down his hot driveway and across the street to his section of the neighborhood's mailbox.

He struggles with getting the key ring out of his pocket with the random plastic wrappings, cash, coins, and general garbage marinating at the bottom of it. Once he flops around enough in there to get it out (practically ripping a hole in the leg with how hard he pulled), what with his shaky hands and insurmountable nerves he also has trouble finding the correct key to put in the lock of his sliver of a mailbox. While his hands are shaking and preoccupied, his brain runs amuck.

_I'll find out who my soulmate is in a couple minutes. They'll probably be so confused on why they matched with some dumbass from their school,_ Dream wonders dreamily, _But what if its someone I know? What if they're one of my best friends? What if they're-_

Dream's brain seemed to have enough of the 'what ifs' as he finally found the correct key. Taking a deep breath, he slips the key into the lock with trembling hands. He turns the key until he hears a click, and opens the small metal door

Dream grabs everything in his family's slot; letters from the bank, scam pamphlets, and

 _the package_.

It's right there, in its baby blue paper wrapping with a note that says "from The Matchmaker", in case there was any confusion. He swiftly closes the mailbox door, takes the key out, and rushes back across the street to unwrap the contents of his list.

He hesitates, realizing Luna probably wants to Facetime and unwrap their lists together. Surely enough, when he checks his phone there's a text and two missed Facetime calls from her.

 **lune <3**: ANSWER MY FACETIMES YOU DINGUS

With a furrowed brow and scattered brain, he calls his girlfriend he's tricked into thinking he still loves her.

She answers immediately, as she always does.

" _FINALLY_ ," she says, exasperated, "i've been waiting for you"

He chuckles. "Sorry, I was having a bit of trouble with my mailbox key. Nerves are making my hands shaky."

"What's there to be worried about?" she asks, looking a bit confused, "We're meant for each other. There shouldn't be anything on here that you need to worry about."

This, _this_ is why he couldn't break up with her. Her optimistic attitude and undying love for him made it even harder for him to realize that he stopped feeling the same.

And that those feelings he had before are for another now.

Someone they both know very well.

Even though he's not looking at the screen, he can feel her emerald green eyes lazering through him, his matching ones too scared to meet them. He knows he has to tell her the truth before she falls even harder for him. He knows today's the day.

"Let's open these puppies up," she says peppily.

Once they see the list.

-

They rip open the tissue paper on their respective packages' wrapping to reveal another note which reads,

_'Thank you for taking our Matchmaking Test last Valentine's Day. Here are your results, a list written from least compatible to most compatible (50% match to up to 100% match). Please note that the contents of this list may not be what you're expecting and that the Matchmaker's Test is 99.9% accurate. It is very highly unlikely the test results are wrong, and for that reason we do not provide retakes or reconsiderations.'_

"Well that note's ominous," Luna says, gulping, "now i'm nervous with you."

Dream's too busy flipping through the pages of what feels like a million page mountain, but in reality is only a 15 page pile, to listen. He sees names of people he hasn't seen in years, and some he's seen yesterday.

"Woah there!" she says, "Wait for me!"

He looks up at the phone he's propped up against a vase on his family's coffee table, realizing he's supposed to find the last page and hold it until Luna's ready. Looking back down at the 10th page of his list, he sees a name that's very familiar, and _very_ surprising.

"Sapnap's on my list," he says, astounded.

"Really? What percent is he?"

"57. And he's on my 10th page."

"Damn, seems like you've got a lot of low numbers," she says, looking like she's about to throw up, "Hopefully I'm not in there."

"Woah, woah. Are you okay? You look sick." Dream knows exactly why she's feeling sick. He's having the same feeling in him too, although maybe for a different reason.

"Y- Yeah I'm fine. Let's just get this over with."

Both of their hands move to the last page of their stack of nerves and names. Dream takes a deep breath, Luna doing the same right after.

"3," Dream starts, "2"

"1," they say together, flipping straight to the page with the top 5 highest matches. Dream has his eyes squeezed shut, terrified. He's too scared to see what the Matchmakers have constructed for him.

"I-" Luna stammers, "I don't understand."

Hearing Luna's disappointment tells Dream all he needs. He opens his eyes.

As the colored blobs in his vision fade, Dream's eyes go straight to the bottom of the page where the highest match for him is. He reads the name.

_That can't be right,_ he thinks to himself, body frozen out of sheer shock, _There's no way it's him._

He's disoriented. Dream isn't listening to Luna anymore. He's too focused on the name at the top of his page.

"There has to be a mistake."

A name he knows all too well.

"I don't believe it," Luna says, panicked, eyes squeezed shut, "This has to be a joke! A sick prank! I refuse to believe-"

"It's not you," he says, lightheaded, finally looking up at her.

"I- I don't get it," she says softly, tears in her eyes, "why did it have to be her?"

"What?" Dream is confused, but he thinks he knows what happened. "Her..?"

"My ex girlfriend, Fae," she explains, dispirited, "From freshman year. She's my soulmate."

"And not me."

"And not you."

She starts fully crying. "Why couldn't it be you, Clay?"

Now's the time. He can't wait anymore.

"Because I'm gay, Luna."

She stops. "Really?"

"Yes." Dream feels like he's lifted a three-thousand pound weight off of his shoulders.

"I'm- I'm just glad you told me." She looks...content. Even though her boyfriend of almost 3 years just told her he wasn't attracted to her anymore and found out, 'actually, its your ex!', she was accepting and caring.

That's Luna for you.

"Well come on now, who's _your_ soulmate?"

He freezes. In all the commotion he had forgotten who his 100% was.

"Woah, you're pale. Who is it?"

"I- I gotta make a call. I'll tell you later. Bye."

"Wait Clay I-"

He hung up and slumped down into the couch he's been sweating his ass off in. He needed time to process the gravity of the situation he's been put in. His best friend. The pretty, brown haired boy he's known for what feels like forever. The one he's coded with for hours on end, and dreamed about for many more.

George.

George is his soulmate.

It looks like Dream has a phone call to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you thought of this chap :D


	2. The Call-George's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream wakes up his soulmate with a hasty phone call and lots of nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the support on the first chap, y'all are so sweet i'm melting :,)
> 
> i hope you enjoy the suspicion, tension, and flirting in this one ;)

George is woken up by a phone call.

 _What time is it?_ he thinks to himself, grabbing his phone off his nightstand with one hand, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the other. He wiggles his legs to release them from the sweaty vacuum seal that is his blue comforter and sheets. He moves the matching pillow against the wall as back support for when he sits up. He also grabs his water bottle from the nightstand, and takes a sip of it while checking the time.

_Seven am?!_ , he chokes. He hasn't been up this early in months. The sun is barely above the horizon, and George wishes his eyes worked right so he could see the beautiful colors of the sunrise that have been described to him in the past. Right now all he sees are browns and yellows, and a long, hot, muggy day ahead. _Why the hell would someone call me this ea-_

He realized what day it was.

_It's Valentine's day. The lists are here,_ he thinks to himself, instant butterflies fluttering in to disturb his peaceful stomach. _God, how did I forget that?_

George takes a deep breath, hoping to swat away those butterflies and swipes across the screen, accepting the call. He, in his half-awake state, forgets to look at the contact of who's trying to get a hold of him.

"Hello?" he yawns.

"George?" the muffled voice says quizzically, then with stone cold realization "I woke you up didn't I."

George realizes who the disembodied voice coming from his speaker is. "Dream?"

"Yeah," Dream grumbles, "it's me, and from the way you're talking it sounds like you just woke up."

"...maybe"

"Did you even try to get up? Or set an alarm?" Dream asks, him and George both knowing the words that are about to come out of George's mouth. 

"No"

Dream flares up. "Of course you didn't. Even on the most important day of your life you don't even try! You slept in like today's just a normal day!"

"Dude," George says, confused and concerned, "Why are you so upset? Did something happen?"

"I-" Dream stutters, then sighs.

"So something did happen."

"Just go get your list man. You'll understand once you read it."

"Oooookay?" George says, still confused. He gets up from his bed and struggles to put on a pair of black baggy jeans from the floor. He assumed something happened with Luna. Dream's been worried sick about the right time to tell her that he's gay. What that has to do with him and his list, George has no idea.

Dream mumbles something that sounded suspiciously like "dumbass"

"Hey!" George exclaims with indignation, "Am not. You're the one freaking out over some random shit on your list. That sounds pretty dumbass-y to me."

"Maybe it's because I have a reason to be, dumbass," Dream defensively teases.

George doesn't respond, shaking his head while pulling on his favorite light blue t-shirt with a (from what he's been told) red and white patch on it. He stretches over to his nightstand to grab his keys that he had thrown onto there seven hours earlier after a late night snack run to fuel his past-acceptable-hours-of-the-night editing adventure, and walked out of his front door. While walking out onto his driveway, past the spot where his mom's grey minivan would've been if she wasn't at work, George can't help but keep wondering what happened with Dream.

_He's really on edge,_ George thinks, _Something either really bad or really strange must've happened._

In George's 4 year long friendship with Dream, he's been close enough with him to know he's never this stressed sounding unless its something big. And that's what's worrying George.

_What if its something bad?,_ George worries, then has a realization, _What if I'm-_

"Are you ready to get your list of soulmates, pretty boy?" Dream says sarcastically, but with a hint of something else. 

George is snapped back from inside his head after Dream's lame attempt at a tease. "I am, dickhead," he says, rolling his eyes even though Dream can't see him. He's used to Dream's playful nicknames and flirty innuendos, but this seems more like a silence breaker than a platonic tease.

_Whatever's on there must effect us_ , George thinks. There's no other reason George can think of for Dream to be so concerned with him and his list. Any butterflies that had left during their interactions are back in full action now, giving him a raging stomachache. 

"Now let me get that list that you want to know so much about," he says, tapping on his mailbox so Dream can hear it.

Dream whispers under his breath, " _finally_."

George is starting to get frustrated with Dream.

_Why won't he just tell me?_ , he thinks, with rising heat in his hands and brain. He angrily skims the rows of thin rectangles until he finds the one that corresponds to his house. He jumbles the key he's had between his two fingers into the lock, turning it until he hears the click. 

He takes out his anger on the small metal door, slamming it open with a loud, satisfying _'clang'_ , which makes him feel a little less annoyed. He sees the package, and its his favorite color. He immediately calms down more, and takes out the baby blue wrapped package softly, as to not rip any of the delicate pages or the pretty, fragile wrapping.

"I love this color," George says tenderly, with the same softness as he had while taking out his list from the mailbox, "It matches my shirt."

"You look good in it," Dream flirts shakily, matching George's tone and ignoring the slammed metal door, "That color, I mean. But you look good in everything, so it doesn't really matter what you wear."

George is taken aback.

_He's never talked to me like this before._

"You can't even see me," George says, a cherry red hotness creeping up his cheeks, "So how would you know what I look like right now?"

"I can imagine."

"...What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just go inside and open your damn list," Dream says, realizing what he just said, trying to change the subject, "It's gross outside."

Dream's right. The weather in Florida around this time is pretty much like how it is all year round; hot, muggy, and rainy. Fortunately for George and the fragile paper, it isn't raining but considering the warm puddle George's bare foot just landed in, it rained last night.

"Fair enough," George says, shaking off his foot and starting to walk back to his house, "but I'm blaming you for my wet feet and sweaty pits."

"Fair enough," Dream mimics.

George sighs and rolls his eyes as he goes up through his driveway and to the patio of his family home. He forgets to actually look at where he's walking and trips through the front door he left open, shuffling to catch himself before he had the chance to fall.

"Falling for me now, aren't you?" Dream says with the teasing voice George knows all too well/

"Jokes on you," George says sarcastically, "I didn't even fall."

"But you were close," Dream says, tone suddenly changing into something hushed and soft.

George stops, again.

_He's_ really _flirting today,_ he thinks to himself, suspicious, then eventually comes to the conclusion that it's 'just the Valentine's Day air'. 

George has another idea in the back of his mind, however.

One he's starting to realize may be true after all that flirting.

"You're gonna make me blush," George says sarcastically, trying to hide his face getting hot for the second time while walking into his bedroom, "You gotta stop that."

"Make me," Dream challenges.

"God, you're impossible."

"Impossibly hot, you mean."

"Shut it and let me open my list," George says as he sits on the edge of his bed.

"You're not denying it though," Dream teases, continuing the playful flirtiness.

"Shut up," George stutters, face so red it looks like he's about to burst into flames.

"Sounds like I made you blush."

"You wish," George challenges, "and seriously, let me open my list. With all your flirting it almost seems like you're stalling."

"Am not," Dream says defensively, "You're the one who keeps enabling me. It's not my fault you're practically egging me on with your blushy-ness."

George ignores him, annoyed. "I'm opening it now, Dream."

Dream doesn't fight back, for once. With a couple soft rips of the baby blue tissue paper, George reveals the same note as Dream's had.

_'Thank you for taking our Matchmaking Test last Valentine's Day. Here are your results, a list written from least compatible to most compatible (50% match to up to 100% match). Please note that the contents of this list may not be what you're expecting and that the Matchmaker's Test is 99.9% accurate. It is very highly unlikely the test results are wrong, and for that reason we do not provide retakes or reconsiderations.'_

"God, that note's ominous," George says, gulping as more butterflies crawl their way into his stomach from any and every way possible. George is so nervous from all the built up tension, suspicion, and frustration of not being in the know, he feels like he's going to shatter into a pile of intricate wings and club-like antennae.

Dream chuckles, obviously not picking up the unease in George's voice. "That's exactly what Luna said."

"Well it is, what with the 'contents of this list may not be what you're expecting' and the 'we do not provide retakes or reconsiderations' being related to each other. Its almost like its-"

"Now it seems like you're the one stalling," Dream says smugly, "Hurry up and actually look at your list like you've been saying you will for the past 5 minutes."

"Fine. I'm doing it." George lifts off the sinister message from the small stack of names and numbers which hold the key to George's future. He knows most people don't look at most of the pages, as the top 5 people are the most important, but George at least wants to skim through his first 16 pages before getting to his last one.

_The page that will show me what has Dream so on edge._

George skims every page, seeing names he recognizes, either from his main friend group or just from around school.

_51%-Sapnap_

_55%-Fundy_

_59%-Quackity_

_61%-Karl Jacobs_

_61%-Wilbur Soot_

Eventually he stops seeing his friend's names as his eyes hunt and prowl for the two names he's worried about seeing the most. In a trance-like state, he doesn't react with his surroundings, leaving his complete focus and brainpower on finding these names. He's so focused in fact, that it took a 'Hey!" from Dream to remind him to breathe. His brainpower is so consumed by the search he almost completely misses one of the names on his 14th page.

_83%-Luna Adler_

It's Luna. And he still hasn't seen the other name.

"Dream?"

"Hm?"

"Luna's really high on my list," George says, trying to sound non-chalant to hide his whirring brain, "An 83%. I thought you'd want to know."

"What page?" Dream asks.

"14th. Still have about 3 pages left to go," George says, "But you know who's name I haven't seen yet?"

Dream breathing stops for a second, then starts again. "...Who's?"

George is hesitant, but he thinks Dream knows what he's about to say.

"Yours."

They're both dead silent. They both know what George is thinking, and George is just waiting for the words.

"Maybe you should go to the last page now," Dream says, confirming George's suspicions.

George slips a finger in between the last two pages of the stack, separating the very last page from the rest. He takes a deep breath. George knows what he's about to see on this page, so why is he so nervous?

_Is it the fact that he's my best friend?_

He slowly turns to the page, eyes squeezed shut.

_Or that he's my soulmate?_

\- 

He opens his eyes, seeing spots from how hard he pinched his eyes, but George doesn't need his full sight to know what's right in front of him.

_1\. 100%-Dream_

"So you see why I was freaking out so hard now, right?" Dream says, knowing from George's silence that he's seen it, "I mean, its not everyday you have to call your best friend to tell him that he's your soulmate."

George peels his eyes from the page. "I- I don't-"

"You don't what?"

He tries to pick his words carefully, but just goes back to his original thought. "I- I don't get it!" George exclaims, finally bursting into the buttery-fluttery mess his stomach had threatened earlier, "You just found out we're soulmates 20 minutes ago! I don't get it! How are you not still freaking out?! How are you so chill now?!"

"Believe me," Dream says, with a hint of unease back in his voice but still calm, "I'm definitely freaking out still. I'm just trying to conceal it for your sake." 

"Why would you need to conceal it for me?" George asks, "I already found out the craziest news of my fucking life just now. I don't think you freaking out over the same thing would make it any worse."

"Well, then it's because I'm trying to show how strong and stoic I am in front of my newly discovered soulmate," Dream says, unsuccessfully attempting to clear away the heavy cloud of emotion above both of their heads.

He stutters, trying to smoothly change the subject after hearing George's ear-blistering silence. "D- Do you want me to come over?" Dream says, "Just to talk. About what we just read. Not to like, do anything, or anyth-"

"No, not yet," George interrupts, emotions and thoughts collecting into a brain hurricane, "I-"

He takes a deep breath to tame his soaring heartrate and scattered thoughts.

"I need some time to think over what the hell just happened," George says, "By myself."

"I-"

"But don't take that as a no," George hurredly adds on, interrupting Dream, "I do want to see you. But-"

"I get it," he interrupts softly, "I shouldn't have said that so soon after you found out. I really want to see you and talk to you in person. But you need your time to think first."

George lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"I know how your brain works after knowing you for so long," Dream adds, "You need time to process before you go into something head on."

"Thank you," George says, lighter than his previous words, "I'm gonna hang up now and think. I'll text you when I'm ready."

"Alright," Dream says, "See you later, pretty boy."

George sighs.

_He really knows how to make me feel something._

"Goodbye Dream."

He hangs up the phone and slumps into his bed. Apparently 'processing everything' for George means 'sleeping for another 4 hours'.

And, of course, with a cluster-fuck of emotions and a need for sleep, comes dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you thought of this chapter!! constructive criticism is appreciated :DDD
> 
> i tried to be more descriptive with the scenery, thoughts, and feelings this time around so i wanna know how y'all feel about it!! i love how this chapter came out, especially compared to the last one. i'm tempted to rewrite the first chapter to be better, so also let me know if that's something i should do! if i end up doing it i'll let y'all know in the notes of the next chapter or something like that :)
> 
> also, i have no idea what to do for george's dream in this next chapter, so it may take a while to write. please bare with my lack of ideas lol


End file.
